第108章

They carefully abstain from mentioning money， from giving me figures， from describing a wedding， a trial， the administration of a piece of property； I am ignorant of the situation of a curate， of a rustic noble， of a resident prior， of a steward， of an intendant. Whatever relates to a province or to the rural districts， to the bourgeoisie or to the shop，[36] to the army or to a soldier， to the clergy or to convents， to justice or to the police， to business or to housekeeping remains vaguely in my mind or is falsified； to clear up any point I am obliged to recur to that marvelous Voltaire who， on laying aside the great classic coat， finds plenty of elbow room and tells all. On the organs of society of vital importance， on the practices and regulations that provoke revolutions， on feudal rights and seigniorial justice， on the mode of recruiting and governing monastic bodies， on the revenue measures of the provinces， of corporations and of trade-unions， on the tithes and the corvées，[37] literature provides me with scarcely any information. Drawing-rooms and men of letters are apparently its sole material. The rest is null and void. Outside the good society that is able to converse France appears perfectly empty.

- On the approach of the Revolution the elimination increases. Look through the harangues of the clubs and of the tribune， through reports， legislative bills and pamphlets， and through the mass of writings prompted by passing and exciting events； in none of them do we see any sign of the human creature as we see him in the fields and in the street； he is always regarded as a simple robot， a well known mechanism. Among writers he was a moment ago a dispenser of commonplaces， among politicians he is now a pliable voter ； touch him in the proper place and he responds in the desired manner. Facts are never apparent； only abstractions， long arrays of sentences on nature， Reason， and the people， on tyrants and liberty， like inflated balloons， uselessly conflicting with each other in space. Were we not aware that all this would terminate in terrible practical effects then we could regard it as competition in logic， as school exercises， academic parades， or ideological compositions. It is， in fact， Ideology， the last product of the century， which will stamp the classic spirit with its final formula and last word.

III. THE MATHEMATICAL METHOD.

The philosophic method in conformity with the Classic Sprit. -Ideology. - Abuse of the mathematical process. - Condillac， Rousseau， Mably， Condorcet， Volney， Sieyès， Cabanis， and de Tracy. - Excesses of simplification and boldness of organization.

The natural process of the classic spirit is to pursue in every research， with the utmost confidence， without either reserve or precaution， the mathematical method： to derive， limit and isolate a few of the simplest generalized notions and then， setting experience aside， comparing them， combining them， and， from the artificial compound thus obtained， by pure reasoning， deduce all the consequences they involve. It is so deeply implanted as to be equally encountered in both centuries， as well with Descartes， Malebranche[38] and the partisans of innate ideas as with the partisans of sensation， of physical needs and of primary instinct， Condillac， Rousseau， Helvétius， and later， Condorcet， Volney， Sieyès， Cabanis and Destutt de Tracy. In vain do the latter assert that they are the followers of Bacon and reject (the theory of) innate ideas； with another starting point than the Cartesians they pursue the same path， and， as with the Cartesians， after borrowing a little， they leave experience behind them. In this vast moral and social world， they only remove the superficial bark from the human tree with its innumerable roots and branches； they are unable to penetrate to or grasp at anything beyond it； their hands cannot contain more. They have no suspicion of anything outside of it； the classic spirit， with limited comprehension， is not far-reaching. To them the bark is the entire tree， and， the operation once completed， they retire， bearing along with them the dry， dead epidermis， never returning to the trunk itself. Through intellectual incapacity and literary pride they omit the characteristic detail， the animating fact， the specific circumstance， the significant， convincing and complete example.